The awakening of the living dead
There is another epidemic widespread in organizations that is not deadly but very harmful and costly: the living dead. There are employees who quit and leave, and the process is expensive, but there are others who quit... and stay, and this is even more costly as they become one in 5!
Learn about the implications of this infection, how it arises and what we can do to combat and prevent it.
A few weeks ago I wrote a case study on the impact of turnover, where we talked about how it could amount to 33% of an employee's annual cost*.
However, as costly as turnover can be, is not what I want to talk about today. Those who quit and leave cost dearly, but those who quit and stay... those cost much more!
Imagine that Pedro has been looking for a job for several months, has gone through many interviews and tests and, finally, has managed to receive an offer from your company. Pedro is happy! He prepares himself and arrives early, pays attention to everything that is explained to him on the onboarding, takes notes and tries to relate as best he can with his colleagues and bosses. His motivation is very high and his appreciation for the opportunity to exercise his professional skills is also high.
Now imagine we fast forward in time, a couple of years and we look back at Pedro in his cubicle. What has happened? He arrives not very punctual, his Outlook inbox is full to bursting (and getting worse every day), the improvement projects he proposed in the first few months were either half-done or failed to get more than a "your ideas are fine, but we don't have the budget, let's plan for the next budget". Pedro does his job, but without any shine, he saw a couple of opportunities to have a managerial position but the first time was told: “too early to be considered” and the second time, they simply chose someone else and did not even tell him why he did not get it.
Pedro does his job dull, unengaged, unmotivated, doing the bare minimum (so as he works, after all "they" pretend to pay him). Pedro is now a living dead.
This state of emotional resignation to the company usually has several symptoms:
Loss of interest in the organization.
Low productivity
Unpunctuality
Little or no motivation
Lack of creativity and innovation
A long pile of unfinished work (procrastination)
Increased complaints and errors
Poor concentration and constant distractions
There are many others, but I think this should give you an idea.
What happened to Pedro? How did he lose his motivation and become infected with this cruel disease that makes him look like a zombie? A state of simulation very similar to a depression in which he no longer feels part of the organization but is still there.
Let's look at some of the possible causes:
Work overload
Lack of recognition
Failure to invest in the integral development of people's talent.
Workplace harassment or abuse
Lack of concern or interest in employees
Failure to comply with agreements
Unfair promotions
Disconnection between what the person is passionate about and what the company asks him/her to do.
Environments that are not conducive to creativity
The virus of emotional resignation develops little by little and is fed by elements generated by the company that are perceived by the employee as unfair. That poorly communicated promotion, that manager unconcerned about the personal situation of his employees, that lack of clear rules for the assignment of functions, that time when the incentive was not well evaluated because the goals were ambiguous... all this contributes to the deterioration of motivation and commitment. In short, every time we do not see the employee as a goal in itself but simply as a resource, as a tool, every time we do not treat the employee as an adult person, as reason and feeling, we drive one more nail in the coffin of this possible living dead.
And the number can be as alarming as 1 in 5*** in an average company!
What can we do?
Some measures that cure organizations of this disease are:
Set clear goals
Act with congruence
Empathic management of human relations at work.
Early detection
Rethinking the employee's journey
1.Set clear goals.
This is where all the problems start, with a bad expectation setting. In any human relationship it is necessary to think: What do I expect from this person?, how will I realize that we are on the road to development?, what am I willing to give in order to reach these goals?
Investing time in clearly elaborating what is expected of the employee at what stage of his or her organizational life, discussing and ensuring that they are understood by the team, empowering members with physical, digital and emotional resources is the first component of the vaccine against the living dead virus.
2. Act congruently.
Let's say that if you have clearly set goals and rules, now you have to enforce them. Being consistent between what you said and what you do is the path to congruence. Few rules so that they can be fully complied with, avoiding exceptions. Clear and enforced boundaries build trust in the leader and the organization.
3. Empathetic management of human relations at work.
Emotional intelligence in our relationships is, not surprisingly, an element that prevents the virus of psychological resignation from reaching our organization. The emotional defense system always acts early because it is attentive to the situation and conditions of the collaborators.
To the extent that the leaders of the organization live and foster an environment of self-control, self-awareness, integrity, optimism and empathy, employees feel cared for and in development, emotionally healthy and therefore immune to the aforementioned virus.
4. Early detection.
Now, it is a reality that I may have already infected some of the living dead in the company, perhaps up to 20% of your employees are in this condition***. If this is the case, it is very important to detect them as soon as possible because they can infect other people. It is not easy, but it is essential. Consider that poor performance usually has to fall below 40% to be visible in the organization.
Reviewing and recalibrating the performance management system, empowering managers to detect and manage cases, reviewing engagement surveys (or implementing them) are some detection tools that can help the organization to take corrective actions when needed.
5. Rethink the employee's journey
Just as we are concerned about our customers having the highest possible satisfaction in the moments of truth, we must also think about the critical moments of our employees' working life. Reviewing the employee's journey in our company and taking care of each one of the points will prevent the psychological resignation virus from becoming an epidemic.
An example of employees journey can be seen below:
The invasion of the living dead can be a horror movie in our company if we do not act. However, as we have explained, it is preventable and curable. I would go so far as to say that it is indispensable that the living dead return to consciousness, return to their center and awake and generate movement. Their energy, thinking and creativity is indispensable in organizations (after all, that is why their jobs exist).
By implementing diagnostic and participative models based on human and organizational development we can make life more productive and satisfying for all parts of the company: for the employees because they will be on the path of their own development, for the leaders because they will have more motivated and therefore more productive employees, for the organization because it will be on a better path to fulfill its commercial and social mission.
If you suspect that in your organization there may be symptoms of these living dead and you want to review it together, be sure to write me.
I have focused this article primarily on the organizational side of the equation, there is a lot to say as well if you have identified with this zombie tribe when reading the symptoms. The individual perspective of this phenomenon and how to heal will be the subject of another article. If in the inter you want to talk about it, you can find me at: fmonterrubio@icloud.com
Sincerely,
Francisco Monterrubio
March 2021
*If you want to talk about how to lower your company's turnover rates, take a look at this other article I wrote and let's talk about it.
** https://www.benefitnews.com/news/avoidable-turnover-costing-employers-big